Oil Volatile After Twitter Hoax About The Death Of Saudi Arabia's King Abdullah

Oil prices surged as rumors abound on social media over the
health of Saudi Arabia's King Abdullah.

The Saudi ruler is battling pneumonia in a hospital in
Riyadh. Prince Salman, the kingdom's defense minister
and heir apparent, delivered the king's speech Tuesday at
the Shura Council, prompting renewed concern about the ailing
monarch and the possibility of instability in the country if
there were a disputed
succession.

Oil prices had been taking another battering in
early trading Wednesday,
with Brent crude hitting its lowest level since
May 2009. It dropped below $50 for the first time in six
years.

Yet at about 4 a.m. ET, the price of US benchmark West
Texas Intermediate crude jumped from $47 a barrel to over $48.50
a barrel, while Brent crude re-crossed the $5o-a-barrel
mark:

Some blamed
the commodity's flash rally on a Twitter account purporting to be
Saud al Faisal, Saudi Arabia's foreign minister. A tweet from the
account, which had garnered over 2,000 followers, said King
Abdullah had died, prompting a flurry of activity on the social
network.